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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22672747">Piano Smiles</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/canadiankazz/pseuds/canadiankazz'>canadiankazz</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>L.A. By Night (Web Series), Vampire: The Masquerade</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anxiety, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Piano, Spooky boy trying to cheer up his sad girl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 17:35:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,431</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22672747</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/canadiankazz/pseuds/canadiankazz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jasper tries to cheer Eva up with music. Set between Seasons 3 and 4. Contains very mild spoilers.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jasper/Eva</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Piano Smiles</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I wrote this fanfic during one of Josephine Mcadam’s piano streams on twitch. Alex Ward came into the chat and she played some songs for him. That, plus talk of the first few episodes of Season 4 of LA by Night inspired me to write this fluffy little Jeva one-shot of Jasper trying to cheer Eva up with music. This fic is set sometime in the four months between Seasons 3 and 4. It contains very mild spoilers.</p>
<p>Thank you to the Sugarcubes for encouraging me to write, and to Elliot and Cravatfiend for the quick edit. Please enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“I’m going out just for a short while,” Jasper said. He pulled on his fingerless gloves and bent over to lace up his boots.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How long?” Eva asked anxiously. Jasper looked up and smiled at her. He took her hand and held it gently. They shared the deathly, winter chill of the underground sanctum, and so neither were surprised at the other’s cold hands. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m just going to pick something up. It’s a surprise,” Jasper said. “You’ll like it… um, I hope.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jasper’s words did nothing to take the worry out of Eva’s eyes. Then again, nothing had. Reading, watching films... none of her usual enjoyments provoked more than the smallest, subdued reaction. Jasper hadn’t tried dancing yet, but if this idea didn’t work, he was seriously going to consider it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She had spent weeks down here already. The nights had blurred together, but Jasper assumed it was late December or early January. He and Eva had spent most of their time booby trapping the sanctum’s distant back door. It made Jasper feel more secure, but it had done nothing to ease Eva’s mind. Nothing he said or did eased her anxiety. The threat of Strauss finding her and taking her away weighed heavily on Eva’s mind like a thick net. It had sapped her of any and all joy she used to have. It broke Jasper’s heart to see her, once so calm and confident, standing in the moonlight, brought down to hiding next to a sewer, trembling and afraid.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The only time she smiled now, was after feeding. When they gave into their Beasts and shared blood, being as intimate as two Kindred can get. That made Eva’s lips smile in a wicked little twist that made Jasper’s stomach flip to see. But there was nothing carefree in those smiles, only wicked, taboo pleasure. Jasper wanted to see her smile outside of those dark, bloody moments.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Please don’t take long,” Eva whispered.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jasper reached over and touched her face. He stroked her cheek and tucked a lock of white hair behind her ear. “I won’t. I promise.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He kept that promise, dashing to his package drop-off point and back to the sanctum as fast and as stealthy as he could. On the return trip he carried a large, heavy, long box - the package he had ordered. Potence made the cumbersome package seem lightweight in his arms. Jasper brought the box down into his sanctum and laid it out in the library.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eva came over, curious as to what Jasper had bought. Her eyes widened a little as he opened the box and revealed a keyboard.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You bought a piano?” Eva asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well… a keyboard, yeah.” Jasper licked his fangs and explained. “So um… in theory, I could play for you, or you could learn how to play it. Either way…” Jasper smiled a wry little smile. “I can’t guarantee I’ll be any good though. It’s been a long time since I played.” He lifted the keyboard carefully out of the box and set it up on the stand it came with against a wall in the corner.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s been a long time since I played too,” Eva said quietly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t know you played.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I did… a little… a long time ago,” she sighed. “I’d sit on my mother’s lap and follow her fingers.” She mimed slowly playing piano in the air.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jasper cleared away the box and the packaging. “I don’t have any sheet music, but we can get some later, and we can look some up online in the meantime.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eva drifted over to the piano and placed her fingers on the keys. She pressed one or two, but it wasn’t plugged in, so the keyboard just made a muffled </span>
  <em>
    <span>thump</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jasper pulled a chair over to the keyboard. He offered it to Eva, but she shook her head. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you um… I can play a little for you now, if you’d like?” he asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eva nodded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay…” Jasper sat at the keyboard. He turned it on and played a note or two to test it. It sounded alright. It was a little tinny in the close, quiet room, but there wasn’t a lot he could do about that. Jasper cracked his knuckles. This had all seemed like a good idea right up until this moment. He hadn’t been lying when he said he hadn’t played in years. He hadn’t played since he was a teenager, let alone since he was alive. He glanced at Eva, who was watching him quietly. It reminded him why he had gotten this piano in the first place. He knew Eva liked music, and having something kinetic for them to do might help her when her brain started it’s occasional spiral of panic attacks. For right now though, all Jasper wanted was to make her smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He placed his hands on the keys and started to play something classical he vaguely remembered having been drilled into him by his piano teacher decades ago. He stumbled and stuttered over several notes. He tried not to growl or get frustrated with himself. This wasn’t for him, and Eva had long ago proven that she cared for Jasper, warts and all.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Jasper finished playing what he could remember of that particular song, he glanced at Eva again. She moved closer and he scooted so she could sit right next to him. “That was lovely,” she said without a smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah? I’m really, </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> out of practice,” he chuckled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well… now that we have a piano… you can practice some more. And… maybe I will too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’d love to hear you play, when you feel up to it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Will you play me another?” Eva asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah. Um…” Jasper thought, licking his fangs. He dug out his phone and looked up some sheet music. “Any requests?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No… just whatever you feel like.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay.” Jasper picked something he thought he could play with his limited skills and balanced the phone with the sheet music on the screen on the little music stand that came with the keyboard. He started to play. Some of his notes still stumbled, but he didn’t give up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not very good at sight reading,” he grumbled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eva kissed his shoulder and leaned against him a little. “You’re fine,” she said softly. “It’s lovely.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks… it’s all for you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you, Jasper.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s alright.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jasper stumbled his way through that piece, then found another. As he played, more and more of the muscle memory came back and his notes smoothed out. He glanced at Eva again and saw that some of the anxiety in her face had dissipated. There was a calm in her eyes now. This was good, and it encouraged him to keep playing, despite how bad he sounded to his own ears.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jasper played for an hour, song after song. Eva recognized only some of them, but that didn’t matter. Jasper paused to flex and crack his knuckles again. Eva was still snuggled up to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good?” he asked her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She looked up at his pale, gaunt face with the very smallest of smiles. “Yes. Thank you for this. I… it means a lot to me you would go through this trouble.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Something inside Jasper melted into a little puddle. “I, um… it’s no problem. I know you’ve been stressed, and I’m trying to help…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eva kissed his cheek. “I appreciate it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Would you like to play?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh…” Eva sighed, looking at the keys. “Um… I don’t know if I remember any of the songs I used to…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She put her hands on the keys and tried them. She played a simple scale, then another one. Her fingers seemed to remember those notes easily enough. Jasper rumbled in encouragement.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s alright. We can learn new stuff… or re-learn old stuff. I’ll find us some sheet music, and we’ll bother each other with practicing,” he smirked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eva’s tiny smile got a little bit bigger. “I wouldn't mind that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay.” Jasper was very pleased at how this little plan of his had gone. It had achieved his desired goal. Eva was smiling, if only a little bit. “Just… we won’t tell the others, right? This is just for us, because I don’t want Victor requesting concerts.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, no… of course not,” Eva agreed. She gave him a little kiss. “Just for us.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jasper purred and smiled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Will you play some more for me?” Eva asked. “Please?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Something in Eva’s tone made him want to play piano for her forever. “Sure.” He put his hands back on the keys and started again.</span>
</p>
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